John Merwin of Dorset holds up a large bass in this undated photo provided by Field & Stream magazine.

John Merwin of Vermont, one of the nation’s pre-eminent fishing writers who authored or edited 15 books on the subject, has died.

He was 66.

Merwin, a Dorset resident, died Wednesday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.

He was fishing editor for Field & Stream magazine for nearly two decades, starting in 1994.

Dave Hurteau, deputy editor of Field & Stream, said Merwin “caught everything from piranhas in the Amazon to Atlantic salmon in Ireland.”

Among Merwin’s books are “Trailside Guide to Fly Fishing” and “The New American Trout Fishing.”

Of the latter book, Kirk Dieter, editor-at-large for Field & Stream and editor of Trout magazine, said: “He spun tales reminiscent of Robert Traver, Roderick Haig-Brown and Thomas McGuane, while explaining the sport’s finer points with supreme clarity. It is the best modern book on trout fishing, period.”

Born in 1946 in Norwalk, Conn., Merwin started fishing with his father at age 3 and never stopped, Hurteau said.

Merwin moved to Vermont in 1970, and in 1979, out of his basement, launched Rod & Reel magazine (now Fly Rod & Reel). Merwin followed that up with Fly Tackle Dealer, a trade magazine.